Introducing Ohloh Journaling

We’ve quietly deployed a new Ohloh feature: journaling. It’s a simple tool that lets you keep notes on what you’re doing.

What goes into your journal is is up to you. Here at Ohloh, for example, we use it to to let each other know what we’re working on. Here’s a short video introducing the feature.

Remember, you can link your journal entries with people or projects. For a person, use the “@” symbol, while projects are referred to with the ‘#’ sign. Example: “@jason, you should look into #couchdb”.

The flip-side of journaling is ‘following’ people. You can follow both people and projects. When you follow a person, you will see every journal entry they author. When you follow a project, you will see every journal entry linked (or tagged) with that project – regardless who authors it.

There’s more to the feature. For example, you can update your journal AND receive news updates directly from your Jabber/XMPP client. Also, journal and news page contents are readily accessible in alternative formats (xml/json/rss/csv). Check out the Journal FAQ for more info.

How this feature evolves is up to the collective “us”. We’re slowly getting addicted to this feature here at Ohloh – try it out and let us know how you use it (and what you’d like to see added or changed). Btw, you can now reach me directly by messaging @jason.

Look for a more official/splashier announcement of this feature in the coming days.